Batsugun
THE FINAL CHAPTER IN TOAPLAN’S SHMUP SAGA
Set out on a breathtaking journey with Batsugun, Toaplan’s shoot-’em-up swansong! Choose your hero from a roster of six charismatic pilots and three distinctive ship types, each brimming with personality. Immerse yourself in a world of dazzling graphics, devastating firepower, and an enchanting soundtrack, creating a sensory experience you won’t soon forget. The accessible gameplay ensures that seasoned veterans and newcomers alike can revel in the unmatched thrill of victory!
In addition, the rebalanced Batsugun Special is also included, and features a visual overhaul with new colors and altered enemy behavior. A smaller hitbox and a shield protecting the ship from one hit, makes it easier which is needed as the barrage of enemy projectiles ups the ante for the true bullet hell factor. Batsugun Special introduces multiple loops, increasing difficulty with each completion. Can you master all four loops?
“As we prepare to launch with the Skull Hornets, our mission stands clear: overthrow the oppressive regime of King Renoselva A. Gladebaran VII. The path ahead is fraught with adrenaline-pumping battles and perilous missions. Our comrades and I are eager, but the question lingers: can we restore liberty to our people and emerge victorious?”
ORIGINAL GAME FEATURES:
- Embark on an enthralling sci-fi adventure where every encounter feels like a mini-boss battle at minimum, demanding your utmost vigilance to survive.
- Unleash mighty weapons like the Sky Mirage, Dragon’s Whisper, and Judgement Flash to eradicate enemy threats.
- Boost your firepower with experience points from defeated enemies.
- Immerse yourself in the captivating space melodies of Yoshitatsu Sakai.
QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS:
- Minimal Input Lag: Emulation, input processing, and rendering all complete on the same frame.
- Quick Save using F1-F10, Reload with Shift+ F1-F10
- Online leaderboards for Single Credit, No Assist, and Assisted plays.
- Instrument panels with extra gameplay information and artwork.
- Rewind the game between 10-18 minutes, depending on the action.
- Capture sharable replays to immortalize your interstellar victories (or funny moments).
- Assist Features such as auto-fire at multiple rates.
- Very Easy Mode: Lower the difficulty to breeze through the adventure.
- Pixel perfect or full-screen scaling in windowed or full-screen mode.
- Rotate the gameplay in 90-degree increments.
- Steam Achievements
- Choose between Raw Input on Windows or Steam Input.
- Hone your skills in the ultra customizable practice mode!
Steam User 15
Awesome port, the lowpass filter is really nice for games with FM music, and it has all the other features you would want from a shmup port. Another solid Toaplan port from Bitwave. Thanks for giving these games the love they deserve.
also I bought the game early enough that I could be 2nd on the leaderboard which is very gratifying, so thanks for that too.
Steam User 8
EDIT (2/7/2024)
Okay admittedly this would be my first time playing Batsugun, as the main reason why I picked this up was because its a precursor to CAVE's enormous legacy of Bullet Hell games, but while game is still just as hard, and even better than some of their classic games, its not without some odd jank, and not due to the port, because Bitwave did an excellent job with the game. If your playing this coming from Cave's latest games like Dodonpachi and Death smiles, your gonna notice some aspects that were later improved like its somewhat bigger hurtboxes on player ships, quarter eater difficulty, and bizarre boss patterns, I felt Boss 2 was straight up unfair, and it felt like that both forms could wall you at an instant with form 1 launching so many homing missiles, bullet waves, and fire balls that were too overwhelming to deal with and form 2's a mobile flying craft that fires fast barrages and hellfire waves that will wall you in seconds without proper knowledge, it just looks straight out of battle garegga and its a total nightmare for novices.
On a more positive note, as Toaplan's last game, you would be surprised at how simple it is to play, you only have 2 buttons (Shot and bomb + Auto fire button) and all you really need to do is tap for a spread shot, hold fire for a stronger but narrow shot, and bomb if the screen seems impossible to deal with, along with a unique upgrade system of having both RPG leveling, and Dodonpachi pickups that improve your shots. Of course this game is the pre-cursor to Donpachi, the defining first game by cave, so your still putting up with a hybrid of Toaplan/bullet hell design that was ambitious for 1993 and is still excellent, but has definitely caught up with time as more games had surpassed its design. If you want to make this your first Shmup, I highly recommend the special edition as its easier to play with modern improvements, and would serve as the core template of every CAVE game in their career. The special edition has also never been released anywhere else, so you should make this game a priority if its the next game in your thirst for bullet hell games on steam.
ORIGINAL
So far I really like this port, while this is ONLY the main game (plus the special edition), the input response is really good to the point of un-noticeable. While there are not a lot of customization options, all the necessary ones are here like certain filters for enthusiasts and even a rewind feature for casual players. Especially at the price of like $8 USD it sounds like a dream come true for any shmup player. It maybe bare bones, but all you really want is pick up and play, but at the very least you can do it in the way the older players want you to experience it if you so choose. Its Batsugun, the godfather of Bullet hell games, what's there not to explain?
There is something to note that's been a reoccurring problem in Bitwave Games though its more of a nitpick at the moment, there's usually a UI problem where sometimes certain text in the options gets cut in half. I don't know if it has to do with my computer, but my requirements are way over the necessary minimum. So I don't know if its a glitch but this also happened in fire shark before I refunded it (though I have the intention of re-purchasing it) when I entered tate mode.
Steam User 7
+Great Gameplay
+Excellent Music
+Superb Visuals
+Colourful and smooth
+Very clean enemy bullets and attack patterns
Played it for the first time on MAME years ago.. happy that it finally arrived on steam and isn't ridiculously priced as the City Connection releases.
Please bring more arcade shmups to Steam. I want ARMED POLICE BATRIDER and Battle Garegga next.
Steam User 7
Glorious.
Steam User 7
Good Stuff. You can add scanlines and rotate your screen 90 degrees in the video options. Also input feels great. 11/10 cause i can smoke weed while playing without getting kicked out and also i am ass at shmups, so 8 euro is probably cheaper than a single playthrough on an actual machine.
Steam User 2
Wow - had heard of Batsugun over the years but never managed to play it until now.
Can see why this shoot 'em up has earned a reputation as it's very, very good.
The game plays responsively and has nice features added which don't get in the way of just jumping in and playing.
This is an easy recommend for fans of arcade shoot em ups.
A must have.
Steam User 4
Please ignore that MusicalMinerDude clown who, for some bizarre reason, decided to purchase every Toaplan arcade port on Steam just so he could whine that they aren't good, followed by a bunch of woefully inaccurate and ridiculous complaints. These ports are great, and this game is great. The grandaddy of bullet hells, but i think this has a much better difficulty level than its successors.
There are literally articles holding up the Toaplan Shoot 'Em Up ports as the perfect example of how to do PC ports the right way, and this guy is claiming that all of them are terrible...lol.